Geographic clustering in inventive activity has often been attributed to cl
ustering in production. For the glass industry, we find that despite a gene
ral association between location of invention and production, there were si
gnificant deviations. Centers of production were not always centers of inve
ntion, and some of the most inventive areas, such as southern New England,
had very limited production. We hypothesize that the growth of a market for
technology facilitated a geographic division of labor between invention an
d commercial exploitation and stimulated inventive activity in places where
there were institutions capable of mediating among inventors, suppliers of
capital, and firms seeking new technologies.